The Desires of Her Heart
by GeneaLady
Summary: Robert E. comforts Grace as she struggles to come to terms with the fact that they yet to have children. CP fic, takes place right before the events of Change of Heart (ep. 4.13)


_******Author's Note: The inspiration for this fic came from one of my favorite movies, Facing the Giants. The fertility struggles that the Grants suffered in that movie were similar to that of Grace and Robert E. so I decided to use some of the quotes from the movie in this fic.**_

_****** This fic was written as an entry for the weekly word challenge in the Facebook group "FanFiction .net Writers Unite!"****. (I had to put an extra space so it didn't get deleted.) The word for this week was "stain".**_

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Grace felt herself being pulled from sleep by the warm sun that filtered in the window and the feel of her husband's warm lips on the back of her neck.

"Sun's up," Robert E.'s gruff, but kind voice spoke from behind her.

"Mmm..." she mumbled, curling her body closer into his, willing sleep to come again.

"Come on," he encouraged as he pulled himself up to sit against the head board of their bed. "Time to get up."

"Alright, I'm up," Grace said, pulling the sheet up to cover her nude form as she sat next to him.

"'Mornin'," he whispered as he claimed her lips in a soft kiss.

"Mornin'," she smiled as the kiss broke before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and standing to put on the nightgown she'd dropped on the floor the previous night.

"Grace!" Robert E. suddenly exclaimed, causing Grace to jump at least two feet.

"Robert E., what in the..." Grace whipped around and her eyes soon went from her husband's horrified expression to the bed, where she saw a large red stain.

"Grace, are you ok? Do I need to get Dr. Mike? Can you make it to the clinic?" Robert E. asked worriedly.

In spite of more dominant feelings coursing through her body at the moment, Grace almost had to chuckle. It was true that they had been married just over two years, but this was the first time that her monthly had decided to make it's appearance on their bed. Robert E. was always very protective of her, so his reaction was not surprising.

"I'm fine, Robert E," Grace sighed as she pulled off the offending sheet after Robert E. stood. "It's just my monthly... I'm fine..."

Robert E.'s sigh of relief was audible.

Grace struggled to keep her emotions in check. The blood stain was just one more reminder that they wouldn't be expecting a child any time soon. Unfortunately, the constant pretending that she was indeed fine was finally more than Grace could handle and she crumpled to the floor, sheet still in hand, and began to sob uncontrollably.

"Grace!" Robert E. exclaimed again, running to her and stooping beside her. "What's wrong? I thought ya said you were fine?"

When he reached her, Grace flung herself into Robert E.'s arms and continued to sob. At a loss of what was really wrong or what to do, he simply rubbed her back and waited for her to calm.

"How can I be fine? I wanna pregnant, Robert E. I wanna be pregnant!" Grace yelled before succumbing to her sobs once more.

"Shhh..." he attempted to comfort her as he rocked her gently, "I know. And you will be, just not now."

"When?" Grace asked impatiently.

"I don't know," Robert E. admitted defeatedly.

"Haven't we struggled enough?" Grace angrily asked. "We both beat the odds and made it out of slavery and able to build new lives, why is having children hard, too?"

"Seems to me that strugglin' is a good thing," Robert E explained. "It meaned we survived. We're the lucky ones, not just for survivin', but for findin' each other."

Grace's tears finally calmed and she looked into Robert E's eyes and asked him, "How can I miss someone so much, that I've never met?"

Robert E. sighed, wishing he knew how to take his wife's pain away. "That's how I felt about you," he said with a smile.

"Good answer," Grace chuckled as she kissed him softly.

"Grace," Robert E. grew serious after the kiss broke and took both of her hands in his much larger ones, "If God never gives us children, will you still love Him?"

Tears sprang to Grace's eyes. How lucky was she that she had a man that put her relationship with God above all things!

"Yes," she spoke softly. As much as she didn't want to think of the possibility of not having children, she knew that her faith was not contingent on them.

"Good," Robert E. said kissing her forehead. "Then I believe He'll give ya the desires of your heart. We just gotta wait."

"You're wonderful," Grace said, cupping his cheek in her hand.

"Com'on" he said, taking her hand and placing a kiss to the palm. "Let's get ready for church."


End file.
